On the stage of Unmentionable: A Lingerie Exposition in Portland, Oregon in February 2016 stood seven plus size women wearing Chubby Cartwheels lingerie. They each walked the runway in luscious velvet and mesh fabrics — their love deals with, visible belly outlines, and back rolls radical in their visibility. In a time when size still seems to conjure up assumptions about one’s moral compass, or health, or class, or, yes, levels of attraction, refusing to hide one’s body — or to drive boundaries further by actually celebrating and showcasing that body — undoubtedly becomes a political statement.
When it came time to conclude the show, however , the inherently political nature from the presentation took an even more poignant turn. As the models prepared for their final walk, every woman showed up armed with a protest sign: Signs featuring slogans like “No Ban No Wall, ” “no US without Muslims, ” “Black Lives Matter, ” “clean water for Flint, ” and “climate change is real. ”
“I’ve been feeling so frustrated with the current political weather of the U. S. and the world right now, ” developer Shawna Farmer tells Bustle. “I always have felt that if you have a platform, an audience, or following of any size, [you should] use it for what you believe to help propagate awareness. I know of a lot businesses choose to stay silent on political topics as to not alienate customers, but since my business and my personal life are very much linked through my personal brand, We had to share my personal views. inch
The idea of the protest signs or symptoms came in the lead-up towards the show, when ever Farmer was feeling weak despite affixing your signature to petitions, writing articles and stories by means of social media, and donating cash to suitable causes. When she is convinced all of these will be noble, worthwhile actions, lady couldn’t quite shake the sensation that very literally shouting one’s worries right now — in front of people likely holding many of the same ones — has just because a place.
“So I asked among the producers of your show, Cassie, if it will be OK with respect to my products to hold up protest signs or symptoms for problems I know most of us are interested in on the last walk, inch Farmer brings. “She taken care of immediately me right away saying positively [… ] and when this came the perfect time to the final walk for my personal line on the show, the crowd replied so surprisingly. The products got a standing bravo from the crowd. It had been really comforting to know lots of people are there and support of those problems, too. inch
The Puffy Cartwheels demonstrate was a possibility in more techniques one. When so many people brace themselves for all of the changes that might come of the next four to eight years, it’s crucial to carve out space for marginalized communities. It can crucial to remember that fat people — like so many people of other identities — are frequently denied rights (from healthcare to proper legal proceedings to equal pay).
Farmer chose to celebrate a range of women who possess likely almost all been told that their bodies are wrong/flawed/grotesque at some point throughout their lives. To campaign against fat shaming might not seem like the top from the priority list right now, and it most likely shouldn’t. But when fatness intersects with other breeds of oppression — be it gender, sexuality, race, or class — it becomes all the more likely for one to be targeted.
Right now, more than ever maybe, is an opportune time to fight against such BS. “I think [when you’re fat], making yourself visible and even hyper-visible, anything outside of the mainstream ‘norm, ‘ is very political, ” Farmer tells Bustle. “You are challenging the status quo. ” And you are normalizing facets of identification that folks still insist on dubbing abnormal.
“The more we normalize it, the more people will become comfortable with it, ” Farmer adds. “It’s necessary to help break the mainstream image of what a fat body looks like. Fat bodies are not all easy hourglasses, inches and they should have to be.